Friday, February 22, 2013

Electronic cigarettes are here to stay. That is the conclusion of
both tobacco companies which have moved into the e-cigarette space and
financial analysts that specialize in following the tobacco space,
according to an article in the Winston-Salem Journal.

According to the article: "The mainstreaming of electronic cigarettes to consumers is
picking up speed, with Lorillard Inc. reported $61 million in sales for
fiscal 2012 and capturing 30 percent of the market share, even though it
has been in the category less than a year. ... Bonnie Herzog, a Wells Fargo Securities analyst,
thinks the e-cig craze has shifted from “fad” to “here to stay,” in part
because Lorillard and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. are generating more
consumer confidence in the products than most of the little-known
marketers have to date. ... “This is a wonderful story of an industry that in
another 10 years could have gone the way of the dinosaurs, but will not
because science/innovation has been fashioned to fulfill consumers’
desire and demand,” said Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist
with Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, said in an email. ... E-cigs said could grow fast enough that Herzog said
they could affect the payments states receive from the landmark Master
Settlement Agreement, which draws from traditional cigarette sales.
Lower traditional cigarette sales are projected to lead to lower MSA
payments from the manufacturers."

The Rest of the Story

Stating
that the growth of electronic cigarettes could lead to a reduction in
MSA payments to states is another way of saying that electronic
cigarettes are such an effective substitute for tobacco cigarettes that
they will reduce in a substantial reduction in cigarette consumption.
And in turn, this means that the growth of electronic cigarettes will
result in a substantial reduction in cigarette-related morbidity and
mortality. In short, the more growth in the electronic cigarette space,
the more lives of smokers that will be saved.

This has the potential to be a tremendous public health success story. But two things stand in the way. Ironically, they are:

1. Anti-smoking groups; and
2. One of the nation's chief public health agencies - the FDA.

Many
anti-smoking groups and researchers continue to do everything they can
to discourage smokers from trying to quit smoking using electronic
cigarettes. In the very article which describes how useful electronic
cigarettes are in reducing cigarettes sales and saving lives, the
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids discourages smokers from using these
products to quit:

"Vince Williams, vice president of communications for Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids, said the growing use of e-cigs and increased
marketing “underscore the need for the FDA to quickly assert
jurisdiction over all tobacco products.” “The lack of regulation has allowed manufacturers to
get away with claims that these products have been proven to be safer or
can help smokers quit without having to provide any scientific evidence
to a government agency that these claims are true,” Williams said. “We
also don’t know what’s really in these products and what impact they
have on health.”"

Is the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
actually arguing that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that
electronic cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes? (That's
precisely what they are stating.)

Is the Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids actually challenging the contention that electronic
cigarettes cannot help smokers quit, despite the tons of evidence that
thousands of ex-smokers have quit using electronic cigarettes? (That,
too, is precisely what they are stating.)

Is the
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids actually asserting that we don't know
what's in electronic cigarette cartridges, despite the fact that we know
exactly what is in these cartridges? Sadly, that's exactly what
the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is stating, and that statement is a
lie.

As I explained earlier this week, it is simply not
true that we really don't know what the ingredients in
electronic cigarettes are.
There have been well over 20 studies that have identified the chemicals
in electronic cigarette cartridges and/or vapor. Moreover, most
electronic cigarette companies list the ingredients of their products
right on their web sites.

There is certainly room for
debate about the precise role of electronic cigarettes in smoking
cessation and the nature of the regulatory framework that would be most
appropriate for these products. But there is no room for lying about the
facts to try to mislead the public and policy makers.

1 comment:

Ecigs are a tough pill to swallow for anti smoking groups because they allow smokers a way to quit cigarettes without quitting nicotine. Its about being right, not about what's best for peoples health. The anti smoking groups are revealing there true nature. We fear what we don't understand.

About Me

Dr. Siegel is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health. He has 25 years of experience in the field of tobacco control. He previously spent two years working at the Office on Smoking and Health at CDC, where he conducted research on secondhand smoke and cigarette advertising. He has published nearly 70 papers related to tobacco. He testified in the landmark Engle lawsuit against the tobacco companies, which resulted in an unprecedented $145 billion verdict against the industry. He teaches social and behavioral sciences, mass communication and public health, and public health advocacy in the Masters of Public Health program.